Category: Pictures

One of the hardest parts of being an author is trying to focus on the ideas you have, while new ones keep coming into focus. That was the case with the latest story that I am revealing here on my blog. It was formed from an idea I had originally based on the tales of the Brothers Grimm. When I couldn’t find a Germanic name that fitted my main character, I decided to switch to an Irish setting and build a different lore.

Without further ado, I would like to reveal to you the final cover of one of my future books.

This beautiful cover for Closing The Circle, the first book in Paws And Effect series, has been designed by the talented mind of JC Clarke. If you are curious about the plot of the book, here is the blurb I have made for it.

The fur will fly when a young wizard seeks his path.

On the search for the remainder of his family’s legacy, a young wizard named Felix Driftwood travels to a mystical location in the middle of Ireland. On his arrival, he finds a mysterious village that is guarded by a pack of wereshifters who have fae lineage. When Felix is nearly killed by an unknown assailant, he is rescued by the pack and given sanctuary by their alpha, a part fae wolf shifter by the name of Ronan LeClaine.

Along with his new allies in the pack, Felix will try to recover what has been taken from his family, so he can lay claim to all the power he is destined to possess. On top of this, he must also try to control the affection he feels for the handsome alpha, as well as deal with the jealousy driven actions of his devoted familiar.

As a special treat for my loyal readers, and anyone who loves supernatural fiction, here is a short sample from one of the flashbacks in the book.

For a horrifying moment, Felix wondered if he had picked the wrong kind of object. The old shampoo bottle began to spew out thick cream coloured smoke. It began to rise up towards the ceiling, and swirled around like a tornado. To Felix’s surprise, the smoke changed into a solid form of something that resembled a human male.

The being had long wine red hair, stunning orange eyes and a pair of ears that would have looked more at home on a house cat. To add to the male’s feline mystique, a large wine red tail curled out from the bottom of his back. He wore a blue vest with golden trimmings, and a golden bangle on each of his wrists. From the point that his waist would have reached his legs, a trail of wispy smoke trailed down towards the floor.

From everything that Felix understood, he thought that the man looked like a genie. It was clear that something had not gone as expected with the ritual. He had expected to find a familiar, and instead he had seemed to have gained a servant. Before he could do anything else, the “man” bowed, and looked at Felix with the deepest respect.

“I thank you for awakening me from my slumber. My name is Trenvick, and I have been summoned to be your new familiar.”

The beings voice was rich and warm, with a slightest hint of a Gaelic accent. Felix dropped the bottle and took a few steps backwards. This genie like creature was definitely a familiar? He had been expecting a talking animal who would be his teacher. Instead, he had picked the vessel of a man-animal who was now gazing at him with adoration.

Noticing his emotional state, Trenvick frowned.

“Are you not pleased with me Master? Have I done something wrong?” he asked, tears forming at the corners of his eyes. Felix looked at the man slash genie slash familiar, and his fear gave way to sympathy.

“You’ve done nothing wrong. It’s just that I didn’t expect you to be in this form. I was told familiars only took the shape of creatures from nature.” Trenvick gave a small smile.

“That would ordinarily be true. In my case, my birth was not what you would call a normal circumstance. My creator decided to choose me to be a feline familiar, and chose my bonding vessel to be the bottle of a freed genie. Little did he know, the bottle retained some magic from it’s previous tennant.”

“When I was born, I had all the powers of a familiar, as well as a small amount of magic that would ordinary be granted to a genie. That is why my physical appearance resembles the more powerful species. As a side effect of the magical crossover, I was given a few feline features, such as my cat like ears and my big fluffy tail.” Felix tried to not wear a vacant expression as he tried to absorb this new information.

“Does this explain everything to you Master?” the familiar asked.

Jumping with surprise at being addressed, Felix nodded. Trenvick’s appearance was unusual, but it wasn’t bad by any stretch of the imagination. The familiar looked slightly cautious at that moment.

“Are you still willing to have me as your familiar?” he asked.

Felix considered the question, but knew that there was only one answer. He had grown to like Trenvick in the time they had spent together, so there was no way he would send him back into the bottle.

“I guess we can make this work.” he eventually replied, with a grin crossing his face.

Trenvick gave a small chuckle.

“Thank you Master. I shall attempt to guide you with all the power that I possess.”

Felix nodded. With the power he held, the wizard didn’t doubt that Trenvick would be of great assisstance to his efforts. Wanting to prove to himself that the man was real, he walked over to Trenvick, and wrapped his arms around his chest.

The warmth he felt from the familiar was comforting, so much so that he almost never wanted to leave his side. Trenvick wrapped his own arms around Felix, and let out of a contented purr. The noise reasonated throughout the room and made both men feel at ease.

Hope you liked this cover and snippet. I will have more information about this latest book very soon, as well as more snippets from future projects.

The festive season is fast approaching, and to celebrate I have decided to release another snippet. For those of you who don’t know, Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook group where you share a set of sentences from a work that has LGBT related content. If you want to check out this great community for yourselves, be sure to check them out for yourself.

Before I start, I would like to thank AuldMisdione for purchasing a piece of art as a commission from SourShockX from deviantArt. This talented artist drew a picture of Phoenix Brannigan from Our Second Chance. Late in the story, after a series of unusual events, Phoenix is transformed into a genie. Here he is in all his magical glory emerging from a magic lamp.

This week’s snippet is our latest visit to the world of The Shifting Secrets: Written In Blood. This time around, we focus on Alex as he is greeted by an old friend.

Breathing a sigh of relief, he turned around, and bumped straight into a man holding an umbrella. Getting to his feet, he apologised profusely.

“You still bumping into me?” said the stranger with a smirk.

Alex was about to question his words, when he realised that he had walked into Lanley. The werelion smiled, and brushed his wet hair away from his eyes. It was hard to believe in seven years, but the man had got more handsome with every day that passed.

“It seems that way,” Alex joked, but his good mood quickly faded and he returned to his sullen expression.

“So what’s got you down in the dumps?”

On a side note, I would like to thank every member of the group who has offered me kind words so far. Your support and friendship mean the world to me. I hope you enjoyed everyone enjoyed this little snippet, and will consider having a glimpse at the completed work.

The journey to becoming an author is a long and winding road, filled with twists, turns and yellow bricks. It is also filled with experiences that changed my life forever. One of these was when I attended my first NaNoWriMo meet. During that November, I wrote the first draft for a story that grew and evolved far beyond anything I could have imagined. Now, many years later, that story is finally making it’s way to eBook shelves.

Without further ado, I would like to reveal to you the final cover of one of my future books.

This excellent cover for Written In Blood, the first book in The Shifting Secrets series, has been designed by the excellent JC Clarke. If you are curious about the plot of the book, here is the newly written blurb I have made for it.

“I swear to watch over this man, as he has done my kind a service. He may come to us in need, as we may look to him. I hereby name this man a friend of my pack.”

The towns of Shinelake and Duskhaven stand in the middle of a supernatural pocket world situated in the middle of England. They both have tall buildings, forests in the suburbs, and a long standing turf war between two vampire clans. In the town of Shinelake, there exists the Graiabluds who respect human life, while the Crimbluds from Duskhaven desire to control them. Caught between the two factions are the various breeds of shifters who are simply trying to live their lives in peace.

Dr. Alex Marsden is a young man from Shinelake who assists the shifters using his talents as a shifter therapist, against the wishes of his Crimblud supporting father. When a horrifying series of events occur to those closest to him, Alex is forced to make some life changing decisions which will alter the course of his destiny forever.

As a special treat for my loyal readers, and anyone who loves supernatural fiction, here is a short sample from the beginning chapters of this reimagined book.

When he opened them once more, he was looking into the eyes of the most beautiful man he had ever seen in his life. His muscular frame held no excess fat, and his t-shirt showed every curve of his perfect physique. This kind of man was not made using weights, or born naturally. He had been involved with physical labour, and the effects would last for the rest of his life.

Strands of golden silk fell from his head, covering his eyes in a matter that made Alex want to gaze upon him forever. In the middle of the stranger’s face, sapphire irises rested in two stunningly white eyes. Before he could move, Alex felt himself being lifted off the floor. The man’s soft hands supported his throbbing head, and soothed one of the bruises on his lower back.

“Are you alright?” he asked, his voice as soft and golden as his hair.

Words failed Alex for a moment, and he felt a rush of heat flooded his face and spread straight to his cheeks. The man pushed Alex forward, so his head rested on his shoulder, and gently raised him onto his feet. When the stranger was sure he could stand, he pulled his arms away to give him some space. Alex checked himself for any major injury, but there was only a headache and minor bruising. He turned to his rescuer, who was himself sporting a blush to equal a radish’s complexion.

“It was my fault you fell down in the first place, it’s the least I can do.”

Alex shook his head.

“It was my fault. I should have been looking where I was going. I’m really sorry. If you want me to do anything for you I will, just name it and I ….”

He was stopped from finishing his sentence by something completely unexpected. His knight in cotton armour had planted his lips on firmly on Alex’s own, and was brushing the tips of his teeth with his soft lustful tongue. It only lasted a few seconds, then the man pulled away with his eyes shining with emotion.

Hope you liked this cover and snippet. I will have more information about this latest book very soon, as well as more snippets from future projects.

As an author, I have worked on several projects over the years. Some of them have developed to their full potential, such as Frozen Heart and A Treasured Find, whereas others have fallen by the wayside. With the National Novel Writing Month just over a week away, I decided to take one of my older projects and give it the revamp it deserves. Without further ado, I would like to reveal to you the final cover of my newly rebooted book.

shifter, reindeer, nanowrimo, reisford

This excellent cover for Blitzen’s Gift, the first book in my Herd of Men series, has been designed by Sapphire Designs. If you are curious about the plot of the book, here is the newly written blurb I have made for it.

In the town of Reisford which lies in the north of England, snow falls on almost every day of the year. One of the residents of this mystical place is Ryan Yorke, a young orphaned man who lives an isolated existence despite his wealth. After rescuing a wounded animal from the nearby woods, a series of unnatural events transport him to the magical parallel world of Snowflake’s Pass.

In this supernatural haven, he is introduced to a group of magical reindeer shifters. These men will change his outlook on the world, and give him the family he has longed for since the day he was born. Among these handsome males is Blitzen Krin, the alpha of the reindeer herd. This handsome stranger is a tortured soul, one who fuels a passion within Ryan that has never been awakened.

Before Ryan can begin his life anew, the two men will need to overcome the obstacles of their pasts, and accept that they are destined to be each the other half of each other’s soul.

As a special treat for my loyal readers, and anyone who loves supernatural fiction, here is a short sample from the beginning chapters of this reimagined book.

“Another great show Rye,” came the voice of Meredith, one of the station’s directors. Her loud Glasweigian dialect rang through the corridors next to the recording booth. Ryan looked up, and saw the voice’s owner walk around the corner. As she smiled, a faint shimmer of silver glitter from her lipstick stretched across her smile.

Having worked for her for three years, Ryan had learned that you could always tell her mood by her lipstick. Silver meant that she had found another boyfriend and was ready to settle down. Gold lips meant that Meredith was having a stressful encounter. When her lips were black, it would be best to vacate the building. If anyone crossed her, the nearest hospital would have another patient on their books.

Sorry for the radio silence over the last few weeks. I took a brief holiday from writing following the publication of A Treasured Find, but now I am back and ready to roll on once more.

The reason for my post today is that I would like to share with you the cover of my new book, which is named Sheltered. It was designed by J.C. Clarke, who runs her own shop on Etsy named The Graphics Shed. She has some great covers for sale at very reasonable prices, so be sure to check her out if you have the chance.

As for the story in question, here is the blurb I wrote for it.

Three years ago, a wolf shifter named Samuel Wake was betrayed by a man he loved and forced out of the pack he once called home. On the anniversary of his exile, Sam comes to the rescue of an injured shifter named Connor, and discovers that the beautiful man is his soulmate. Things take an unexpected turn when Sam discovers that Connor is already claimed by an alpha shifter named Lucas Malvone, and that this powerful male shares the honour of being his fated mate.

Will Connor and Lucas be able to bring comfort to their destined partner, or will Sam’s tragic past convince him to be sheltered for the rest of his life?

As a special treat for my loyal readers, and anyone who loves supernatural fiction, here is a short sample of the beginning of this new book.

Thinking back, Sam realised how lucky he had been in the days before everything went to shit. His mother and father were both wolf shifters, and as might be expected by the laws of genetics, Sam had inherited their supernatural status. On the nights when the moon was full, he would change into an enormous blonde wolf, with a white tail that seemed to shimmer whilst under the starlit skies. At any other time, Sam could also change into his other form at will, but the full moon‘s rays did something to his animal that could never be ignored. Tragically, Sam’s parents had been slain during a dispute over territory a few months after he was born, which led him to be adopted by his musically challenged foster father almost immediately afterwards. His new parents welcomed him into the loving atmosphere of their pack, and gave him an especially warm induction when Sam’s shifter abilities awakened at the age of sixteen.

Unfortunately, Sam’s new life had not remained an idealistic existence. He had been relatively exiled from the pack after an incident that involved the first man that had won his heart. Sam had discovered that his so-called boyfriend’s true motives behind their relationship were not romantically motivated. The long and short of it was that the man had been trying to marry him to gain the small fortune that would be bequeathed to Sam on his 21st birthday from his deceased parents. Thankfully , he had discovered Gareth’s treachery a few days before his inheritance was deposited into his bank account. The discovery had shattered Sam’s heart, so he had been forced to take drastic measures and reveal the man’s treachery to the pack alpha.

Before I go, I have another important announcement I would like to make.

Thank you to everyone who has purchased A Treasured Find over the last few months. I received my first royalties for the book in the last few days, and it proved to be a wonderful surprise just how much I received.

Hope you liked this cover and snippet. I will have more information about this latest book very soon, as well as more snippets from future projects.

You may remember a few months ago that I created a cover image for the first book in the Treasured series after finding a background image that suited the story perfectly. After hearing some feedback from some author friends who have experience with graphic design, I decided to ask one of them to help me redesign the cover to make it more visually appealing.

Without further ado, I would like to reveal to you the final cover of A Treasured Find, which has been remastered by the very gracious C.B. Archer. If you are a fan of video game based erotica, be sure to check out his works, as they are definitely some of the best examples of the genre I have ever had the fortune to read.

Hope you liked the enhanced cover that was kindly created by C.B. Archer. If you are interesting in reading his works, you can find his WordPress blog by following this link. The book in question has almost reached completion, so I will have more information about the release of A Treasured Find within the next few weeks.

After a brief break, it’s time for me to post another snippet of an up and coming work on Rainbow Snippets. For those of you who don’t know, Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook group where you share a set of sentences from a work that has LGBT related content. If you want to check out this great community for yourselves, be sure to check them out for yourself.

This segment is from the Treasured series, and was co-created by AuldMisdione, the deviantArt user who helped me bring the characters of the story to life.As a special treat, here is a picture of Magnus and Ceispen, the kings of the Northern Kingdom that was drawn by another deviantArt user named AutumnAlchemy. You can find it below, or visit the original deviantArt page where it was uploaded.

For this Rainbow Snippet, I decided to offer you the remainder of the backstory of Varron’s parents. If you missed the first part, be sure to check the previous post.

The day finally came before Magnus’s thirtieth birthday, and although the lion shifter wanted to be with his true mate more than anything, his duty to his pride would have to come first. Besides, they would have an eternity to spend at each other’s side once this was over.

Magnus used the Grand Magister’s gifted wish to find a woman who would honour his promise to mate with Ceispen, whilst at the same time standing by his side as the Alpha Female of the pride. As Ceispen granted his Hiraeth’s wish, he gave his beloved a final kiss of farewell, and disappeared into the lamp, which vanished as soon as the prince had disappeared inside it.

Later that evening, Magnus bonded with a lioness by the name of Xelena, who was also seeking a political marriage to escape the clutches of her less than favourable pride. So from that day forward, Magnus and Xelena took over the running of the pride.

For the next hundred years, the two shifters guided, fought and shared food together, but they never consummated their desires through any sexual encounters. The day came when it was the turn of Xelena’s son, whose father had been slain by her former pride to take the position as leader.

Thanking her for her many years of loyalty, both Magnus and Xelena went their separate ways, and lived in retirement to await the beginning of the next stage of their lives.

A few months had passed, and Magnus pined for his handsome genie more than ever before. His waiting came to an end when Magnus was given a letter through the bottom of his front door one windy afternoon.

The letter read,

“Dearest Magnus,

I am reaching the end of my service, and I cannot wait to lay eyes upon you once more. My parents have informed me that they wish to meet your acquaintance before I return home. When you ready to do so, simply tap the wax seal three times, and you will be taken directly to the palace.

Stay strong my beloved Hiraeth, I shall be with soon.”

Without a moment’s hesitation, Magnus made himself look presentable, and tapped the wax seal with a shaking hand.

When he had arrived at the palace, he had been welcomed with open arms by King Dreimos and his bride Queen Peregrine. They had shared a delicious meal, and talked about the man who would be the future king. The royal couple invited him to stay in their son’s bedroom for the night, and then he could return once the prince had come home.

As Magnus entered the prince’s chambers, he was surprised to pick up a familiar scent. Looking over at the balcony, he saw a flying carpet was headed towards him, and riding on top of it was his beloved mate. After a heart warming reunion, Magnus and Ceispen completed their mate bond, and within a week of their reunion the two men were pronounced to be married.

During the ceremony, Magnus was transformed into a genie, so he could be equal in both power and authority to all of the people of his new home. Magnus was relieved to discover that he could still become his lion after he had been changed, a fact which Ceispen had confirmed before the two men took their vows during their marriage ceremony.

After the grand event had taken place, Dreimos and Peregrine decided to abdicate, leaving Ceispen, and his beloved Magnus to ascend to become the kings of the Northern Kingdom.

On a side note, I would like to thank every member of the group who has offered me kind words so far. Your support and friendship mean the world to me. I hope you enjoyed everyone enjoyed this little snippet, and are looking forward to another brief glimpse as well as the final release.